IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/poango/v10y2022i2p165-175.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Weakening Transatlantic Relationship? Redefining the EU–US Security and Defence Cooperation

Author

Listed:
  • Bjørn Olav Knutsen

    (Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI), Norway / Faculty for Social Sciences, Nord University, Norway)

Abstract

The aim of this article is to discuss how a weakening transatlantic relationship influences European defence cooperation and integration. It also asks how these observed patterns of weakening EU–US relations can be explained and what the consequences might be for the EU’s efforts to build a stronger and more coherent security and defence policy. Building upon a “comprehensive neo-functionalist” approach first coined by the Norwegian scholar Martin Sæter, European security and defence policy should be seen as part of an externalisation of EU integration as a response to weakening transatlantic relations. The debate on European “strategic autonomy,” the Strategic Compass, and the European “defence package” should therefore be considered as part of such an externalisation process of actively influencing and reshaping the transatlantic relationship. When analysing European security and defence, the article also shows that it is misleading to regard European integration as something to be subordinated to NATO. Nevertheless, a European security deficit does exist due to differing perspectives among member states on how the EU process should relate to NATO. The article, therefore, concludes that strategic autonomy can only be developed with close EU–NATO cooperation. Furthermore, a more multipolar world order where the EU no longer can rely upon a transatlantic security community to the same extent as before challenges the EU’s role as a defender of multilateralism and poses new challenges to the EU’s common foreign and security policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Bjørn Olav Knutsen, 2022. "A Weakening Transatlantic Relationship? Redefining the EU–US Security and Defence Cooperation," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(2), pages 165-175.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v:10:y:2022:i:2:p:165-175
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/5024
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pernille Rieker, 2022. "Making Sense of the European Side of the Transatlantic Security Relations in Africa," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(2), pages 144-153.
    2. Marianne Riddervold & Akasemi Newsome, 2022. "Introduction: Out With the Old, In With the New? Explaining Changing EU–US Relations," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(2), pages 128-133.
    3. Michael Smith, 2022. "How Much of a New Agenda? International Structures, Agency, and Transatlantic Order," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(2), pages 219-228.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gorm Rye Olsen, 2022. "“America is Back” or “America First” and the Transatlantic Relationship," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(2), pages 154-164.
    2. Akasemi Newsome & Marianne Riddervold, 2022. "Conclusion: Out With the Old, In With the New? Explaining Changing EU–US Relations," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(2), pages 229-234.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gorm Rye Olsen, 2022. "“America is Back” or “America First” and the Transatlantic Relationship," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(2), pages 154-164.
    2. Akasemi Newsome & Marianne Riddervold, 2022. "Conclusion: Out With the Old, In With the New? Explaining Changing EU–US Relations," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(2), pages 229-234.
    3. Marianne Riddervold & Akasemi Newsome, 2022. "Introduction: Out With the Old, In With the New? Explaining Changing EU–US Relations," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(2), pages 128-133.
    4. Herman Mark Schwartz, 2022. "The European Union, the United States, and Trade: Metaphorical Climate Change, Not Bad Weather," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(2), pages 186-197.
    5. Michael Smith, 2022. "How Much of a New Agenda? International Structures, Agency, and Transatlantic Order," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(2), pages 219-228.
    6. Pernille Rieker, 2022. "Making Sense of the European Side of the Transatlantic Security Relations in Africa," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(2), pages 144-153.
    7. Bart Kerremans, 2022. "Divergence Across the Atlantic? US Skepticism Meets the EU and the WTO’s Appellate Body," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(2), pages 208-218.
    8. Ingrid Hjertaker & Bent Sofus Tranøy, 2022. "The Dollar as a Mutual Problem: New Transatlantic Interdependence in Finance," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(2), pages 198-207.
    9. Mai'a K. Davis Cross, 2022. "Space Security and the Transatlantic Relationship," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(2), pages 134-143.
    10. Polterovich, Victor, 2023. "Догоняющее Развитие В Условиях Санкций: Стратегия Позитивного Сотрудничества [Catching-up development under sanctions: the strategy of positive collaboration]," MPRA Paper 117659, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Kolja Raube & Raquel Vega Rubio, 2022. "Coherence at Last? Transatlantic Cooperation in Response to the Geostrategic Challenge of China," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(2), pages 176-185.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v:10:y:2022:i:2:p:165-175. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.